A teenage girl killed at least 10 people in a suicide bomb attack after blowing herself up during a VIP celebration in Somalia.

Two of Somalia's top sports officials were killed in the blast at Mogadishu's national theatre in an attack Islamist insurgents said was aimed at killing senior government figures.

The suicide bomber was described by witnesses as being 'less than 16 years old' who only managed to get access to the event on her fourth attempt, according to the Somali defence minister Hassan Arab Isse.

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Soldiers carry the body of the chairman of Somali football federation Said Mugabe Nur after an explosion at the national theatre in Mogadishu

Teenage killer: The suicide bomber who blew herself up at the Somali National Theater was described by witnesses at being younger than 16

He told the Daily Telegraph: 'We are already investigating how she came to be refused to enter three times, but was allowed in the fourth time.'

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Bloodshed: A soldier expresses disbelief in front of a victim's body at the scene of the blast

Kadija Dahir Aden, acting president of Somali athletics, said: 'The government sent us four invitation cards and of the four officials who went, two are dead, and the other two injured. It is a black day.

'Many great people have died today.'

She said the Somali Olympic Committee Aden Yabarow Wiish and Somali Football Federation chief Said Mohamed Nur died, while the deputy at the Olympic committee and the chairman for Somali boxing were both injured.

But it appears the bombing was also an attempt to kill the prime minister, Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, as he spoke at an event at 11am today to mark the first anniversary of the country's new satellite television channel.

Mr Ali was unharmed, but there were reports that one of the five government ministers also attending the event was slightly injured, as were two MPs.

While the al Qaeda-allied militants pulled their fighters out of the capital last August, they have continued to strike targets regularly in the heart of the coastal city using roadside bombs, mortars and suicide bombers.

Witnesses and the African Union said a female suicide bomber was behind the blast in the newly reopened theatre.

The theatre was reopened for the first time in two decades on March 19 - raising hopes the country had turned a corner after being plagued by violence since a dictator Siad Barre was ousted in 1991 by opposing clans.

High alert: Soldiers stand guard outside the national theatre in Mogadishu after an explosion killed 10 people

Soldiers evacuate an injured man after the latest explosion in the Horn of Africa country that has been torn apart by warlords and rebels

A victim covered in blood is wheeled out of the national theatre after the blast

The country then suffered years of fighting between rival warlords until a new parliament was set up in 2004.

Prosper Hakizimana, deputy spokesman for the AU's AMISOM force, said: 'So far six died and 10 were injured, mostly civilians.

'The Prime Minister was speaking inside the theatre when the blast took place, but he is safe, unhurt.'

Corpses were left strewn across the floor with some of the dead still in their chairs after the blast at the theatre in the war-ravaged Horn of Africa country.

Injured attendees were rushed to hospital while Ambulance workers collected the dead bodies.

A doctor at the Madina hospital said two ministers and a member of parliament were among those hurt.

Al Shabaab rebels, al Qaeda’s franchise in Somalia, claimed responsibility for the attack after promising a fresh offensive in the sea-side capital.

Spokesman for the group's military operations, Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, said: 'We were behind the theatre blast. We targeted the infidel ministers and legislators, and they were the casualties of today.'

Prime Minister David Cameron has condemned the 'sickening' terrorist attack that killed 10 people in 'mindless violence'.

Mr Cameron said it was a 'difficult moment' for the Olympic team, which will compete at the 2012 Games, but he hoped they would "unite the country" behind their efforts in London.